Traeth Mawr
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is a
polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
near
Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...
in
Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...
in
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. The area was formerly the large tidal
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...
of the ''
Afon Glaslyn is a river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. While not of great significance in terms of its length (about ), it is one of Gwynedd's primary rivers, and has greatly influenced the landscape in which it flows. It has its source in Glaslyn, a ci ...
''. It was created after large-scale land reclamation occurred in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A large embankment, called the Cob, separates the area from the sea and carries a road and railway line.


History


Early years

The original estuary of the was a dangerous place; many people were said to have died in the
quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...
s trying to cross the Traeth Mawr. In the late 18th century, various landowners around the edge of the estuary began to systematically reclaim land of between and . Between 1770 and 1800 this resulted in the creation of about of new land. Around 1798,
William Madocks William Alexander Madocks (17 June 1773 – 15 September 1828) was a British politician and landowner who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Boston in Lincolnshire from 1802 to 1820, and then for Chippenham in Wiltshire from ...
bought the Tan-yr-Allt estate near Penmorfa Marsh. Soon afterwards he reclaimed an area of sand from the sea and the river by building a earthen bank from
Prenteg Prenteg is a hamlet that lies from Porthmadog, Wales, between Tremadog and Beddgelert Beddgelert () is a village and community (Wales), community in the Snowdonia area of Gwynedd, Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2021 ...
to Clog-y-Berth (now Porthmadog). The township of
Tremadog Tremadog (formerly Tremadoc) is a village in the Community (Wales), community of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales; about north of Porthmadog town centre. It was a urban planning, planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who boug ...
was founded within the new area. A wooden-tracked railway was used in the dyke's construction. The rails were later used by the
Croesor Tramway The Croesor Tramway was a Wales, Welsh, narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an act of Parliament and was operated using horse power. The tramway was absorbed i ...
.


Completion

In 1807 Madocks obtained a local act of Parliament, Madocks' Estate Act 1807 ( 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. xxxvi), permitting him to complete the reclamation of Traeth Mawr. Between 1808 and 1811 an embankment called the Cob was constructed from the island of ''Ynys Towyn'' (now part of
Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...
) to Boston Lodge in the
Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a , a district and, as Merionethshire, a county. It is currently a committee area within the county Gwynedd. Kingdom (Meirion, with as a Welsh suffix of land, literally 'La ...
. The massive stone-lined earthwork was long, wide at the bottom, tapering to at the top, which was above the level of the river. The work completed the reclamation of of Traeth Mawr. Soon after completion in 1812, the embankment was breached in a violent storm. Repairs were completed by the end of September 1814. Although the original estimate to complete the Cob was £23,500 (£16.9million in 2014), it eventually cost Madocks £60,000 (£43.3million in 2014) to finish. At its seaward end, Traeth Mawr joins "Traeth Bach" ("little sands"), the estuary of the River Dwyryd.


Transport

In 1836, the
Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway () is a heritage railway based on Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia#Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia National Park. The ...
began using the Cob when it built a
tramroad A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of L-shaped rails, where the flange on ...
to transport
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
from the quarries around the inland town of
Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog () is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,0 ...
to
Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...
, where it was loaded onto
ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...
s. Empty wagons were hauled back up to the quarries by
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
s. Loaded dandy waggons used
gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
to run downhill from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port across the Cob. After a number of trials and some modifications, the line was upgraded to a
narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
in 1863. In 1927 the Cob was breached again, and took several months to repair. A carriageway was also constructed at a lower level on the inland side to take a public highway. Until September 2003, when the Cob was bought by the
Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...
, all vehicles crossing the embankment were required to pay a
toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...
. The collection of fees often caused
traffic jam Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...
s at peak holiday travel times: it was not exceptional for queues to back up to in each direction. In 2002, the highway across the Cob was widened while a separate path was added for walkers and cyclists. The pedestrian route now forms part of
Lôn Las Cymru The route passes through the heart of Wales, and is also known as . It is largely north–south from Holyhead to Cardiff or Chepstow, and in total measures some in length. Some of its route follows the trackbed of former railway lines, such as ...
, the national cycle route from
Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...
to
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. In 2010 work started on the Porthmadog, Minffordd and Tremadog bypass to reduce the amount of through traffic in the town.Welsh Assembly Government : ''A487 Porthmadog, Minffordd and Tremadog Bypass''
/ref> On completion the original course of the
A487 The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north. Route The road starts at a junction with the A40 in H ...
across the Cob was renumbered as the A4971. In 2012, of the embankment were widened on the seaward side of the Porthmadog end to allow a second platform to be constructed at the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway's Harbour Station.


Bibliography

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Google Earth view of Porthmadog and Traeth MawrGoogle Earth ground-level view across Traeth Mawr


References

{{Commons category, Traeth Mawr Polders Coast of Gwynedd